Chapter 8

The Face of the Enemy

***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***

**Dead Space (Colonial Fleet)**

*USS Odyssey (Port side F-302 Bay)*

A pulse of blue light propelled the crate forward and it struck the Cylon at the far end of the hangar with enough force that the robot was sandwiched between it and the wall. A shower of sparks marked its death as its assailant flew past its dead body and tackled the last of the metal men to the floor. The glow of her body surrounded her right fist as she drew it back and delivered a blow that severed shiny metal head from shiny metal body. Then her left fist was raised and the light coalesced there before the robot's chest was caved in by another blow. She continued to beat the metal body to scraps until the glow disappeared and her anger went with it.

She stood to her feet, breathing heavy, hands bleeding and knuckles broken. She turned in a slow circle and took in the hangar. There were fires burning where oil on the ground had been ignited by sparks, but the fire suppressant systems were already smothering the flames in a thick foam. Her eyes started to return to their normal color, the vibrant blue fading away and being replaced by the soft brown that she had been born with. She flexed her broken fingers and relished in the sharp feeling of pain. If she could still feel pain, she must still be alive. If she was still alive, she could still kill.

Movement caught her eye as one of the shiny metal men that had been gunned down by the guards tried to get up to its feet. She drew her hand back and the light formed in her palm, a ball of mass-distorting energy that would tear the machine apart on the molecular level. That's what they told her anyway. All she needed to know was that it made people feel her pain before Death finally took them. She was just about to throw that ball of entropic energy at the machine when a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Davidson wants one left alive," Oliver said sternly.

"You and your damned prisoners," Jack said in a tone of disappointment. She made the ball in her hand stop swirling and lose its lethal edge until a sparking bubble rested gently in the palm of her still bleeding hand. She then shook off his grip and tossed the bubble at the robot. The bubble grew in size as it flew until it trapped the metal man in its confines, then it shrunk down until it formed a second lair of skin over its own armor, one that stopped it from moving. "Good luck getting that thing to talk," Jack said with a wince of pain at having used her broken fingers. "I doubt that Cassidy can hypnotize a robot."

"That's okay. I have a feeling that Gabi would have more fun with this thing anyway," the Colonel replied as he walked over to the robot while pulling a small device from his utility belt. "Let's just hope this works," he muttered to himself as he placed the small charge on the robot's forehead. There was the whir of a small motor coming to life before a powerful bolt of electricity coursed through the metal man and the light that was, apparently, its eye shut off.

*USS Odyssey (Bridge)*

"Anything?" Davidson asked in a somewhat breathless tone. The Odyssey had been in a few scrapes in her time, but, for some reason, the numbers fielded against them was still equal to the Ori despite the fact that the Odyssey was the superior ship in this fight. Or maybe it was the thousands of civilian lives at stake?

"Screens are clear, sir," Marks replied, "but we've taken losses on both sides."

"What's our status?"

"The hangar bay doors need to be fixed, the communications systems are still unrepaired, the inertial dampeners have 'recharged'," Doctor Naco reported with air quotes around the word they were using to describe their current situation, "and we have several wounded members of the defense team arriving in the med bay now. One of the Marines that helped them get there ran back towards the 302 bay with a first aid kit and your lead medical officer is readying a small team to follow after him. As for the hangar itself, it looks like our team cleared it. We have two confirmed fatalities and multiple casualties, but I can't tell if anyone died beyond the two initial defenders. Either way, the jammer was on their ship and should be disabled… now. I have Colonel Viride on the line."

"Colonel, what's your status?" Davidson asked into the comms channel.

"There were two fatalities in the first wave of defenders, bodies yet unrecovered. Second wave defenders have… seven wounded. I've got a man in critical condition here and my medical training isn't the best in the world," the Colonel replied somewhat frantically. "Teal'c, I need you to put pressure on this!" Viride continued at a shout. "Send a medical team and make sure they bring blood. I've got a woman bleeding out here that's not going to last much longer on top of the man who lost an arm to an explosive round. There are fires in the hangar that are close to reaching the 302 fuel reserves and the suppressant systems aren't going to stop them in time. I suggest we vent the hangar once everyone's clear or we could end up losing this entire section of the ship. Captain! Put pressure higher up on that wound! You have to stop the blood from reaching the stomp if you're going to stop the blood from escaping!"

"Medical team is en route," Marks said as he sent the request for blood over the internal network.

"Don't carry the wounded without proper head support! Teal'c, I know you're a Jaffa and you're trying not to hurt her, but put more pressure on that wound or she's going to die!" the Colonel shouted at the men around him. "Captain, just take your belt off and use it as a truncate. Slow the bleeding down as much as you can. Jack! Help me move her."

"What the fuck do you want me to do? I kill shit, I don't heal people. That's Tommy's job," the voice of an angry woman replied.

"A magical gurney would be appreciated," Viride shot back.

Colonel Davidson looked to Gabi who merely shrugged. "She used to be one of Nirrti's test subjects. She's also over three-hundred years old."

Davidson's reply to that was cut off by Oliver's report. "We've also got a new prisoner, and a bunch of questions," the Colonel continued speaking, the sounds of the roaring flames dying out of the comms channel as the man presumably walked away from the source. "Everyone out! That's the wounded and the dead!"

"Copy that last part, Colonel. You captured one of them alive?" Davidson asked.

"You could say that, but I'd use the term 'alive' far less liberally. We were boarded by robots, Colonel."

"Say again?"

"Shiny metal men with roving red eyes, thick metal skin, servomotors for muscles, and hydraulic fluids for blood. We were boarded by robots. Careful now, don't jar him when you set him down."

"That explains the lack of life-signs," Doctor Naco mused. "If we were boarded by robots, then of course we couldn't detect them. If the Baseships are crewed by robots, then of course they don't have organic life-signs on them. It also explains why their fighters are so good at dodging pinpoint fire. There's no organic pilot which means there's no need to worry about pulling a turn with too much G-Force. It also means that they have predictive algorithms like we do and they think fast enough to use them in combat. It does raise a rather concerning question though."

"What's that?" Davidson asked.

"If they're robots, why are their ships made of cybernetically-enhanced organic materials?"

"Great," Donnelly said in a disgusted tone. "So we're fighting the Replicators mixed with the Wraith? As if either species wasn't hard enough to kill on their own!"

"Highly unlikely," the short scientist replied as she continued to work on her tablet. "The Lanteans were more advanced than anyone else when they made the Asurans. I don't think anyone in this galaxy has what it takes to build anything even remotely comparable to the Replicators. They're just robotic soldiers used so that the organic creators don't have to die. However, it does raise the question of who those organic creators are, and I think I know the answer to that."

"I think it's about time we sent our delegates over," Colonel Viride suggested. "We can get our answers in person that way."

"I'll set it up with the Commander. Get your men out of the hangar so we can vent it and send in the damage control teams. We need to land our birds and there's not enough room in one hangar for a full flight of 302s," Davidson ordered.

"Copy that, Colonel," the Colonel replied. "We're all clear on our end. Vent it."

*Battlestar Galactica (Viper Bay) [twenty minutes later]*

The Raptor set down with a soft bump and the elevator they had landed on began to descend into the bay itself. Once inside, they were wheeled out by a small tractor. The door on the side then opened and the pilot led the way out.

"That's just crazy," she said to the man behind her in conclusion to their conversation.

"Something wrong?" Commander Adama asked as he walked over with a small honor guard behind him.

"Their hangars," Boomer replied. "They have a… what did you call it?" she asked as a man with brown hair stepped out behind her.

"It's called an atmospheric retention barrier," the man replied. "It holds in the atmosphere so that we can walk around the hangar while fighters are launching and landing. It allows us to fit more fighters into a smaller bay than this one," the man said as he looked around the massive Viper bay.

"I walked out of the Raptor wearing an oxygen mask and they were just standing there… it was weird," Boomer added.

"Huh," Adama grunted. "And you are?"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson," the man replied as he shook the Commander's hand. "With me are a few members of the Odyssey's crew that specialize in fields that may be useful during negotiations as well as a few specialists that Colonel Davidson is, from what I understand, loaning you. It's a pleasure to meet you in person," Daniel added.

"Likewise," Adama replied with a nod. "How's the Odyssey holding up?"

"A few of our systems are damaged and in need of repair, long range communications and FTL being the more pressing of the two. We also took some damage to one of the fighter bays when a Cylon shuttle decided it wanted to land there."

"You were boarded by the Cylons?" the Commander asked.

"Yes, we lost two good men in the fighting and a third is… probably not going to make it. She's lost a lot of blood and there's some internal bleeding as well. Another soldier lost an arm. We simply weren't expecting robots to land in one of our hangars," Daniel said in a questioning tone.

Adama nodded at that and motioned them forward. "That… is a long story," the Commander began with a sad sigh.

*USS Odyssey (Auxiliary Lab)*

Gabi was hunched over the Cylon robotic soldier that was strapped to the table with wires running into its head when Jack walked in holding a crystal orb. True to the description the Lucian Alliance researcher had given, the orb was full of pulsating light that was constantly changing color. When they first saw it, the members of the recovery team had assumed it was just a fancy light fixture. Even knowing it was a data module, they had not the slightest inkling exactly how important the orb truly was. That knowledge would come later.

"Here's the… thing you wanted," Jack said as she held up the orb she had only grabbed because she thought someone else might get pissed if she took it.

Gabi looked up from her work with a puzzled expression and a, "Huh?" before realizing what the other woman meant. "Oh, you mean the thing that Oliver wants me to want?" Gabi asked with a dismissive wave.

"Whatever," Jack replied in an irritated tone as she idly picked at the bandages on her fingers.

"Just put it on the table over there, I'll take care of it later," Gabi said, indicating the table with a nod of her head and jut of her chin.

"What are you up to?" Jack asked as she set the orb down and wrapped a loose cord around its base to keep it from rolling. She then walked closer so as to look over Gabi's shoulder as the scientist picked apart the Cylon's brain.

"Trying to interface this robot to my tablet," Gabi replied.

"Is your tablet going to be able to handle that?" Jack asked. "It seems to me that the robot would have a better processor than your little computer."

"Normally it would," Gabi agreed before nudging a small, oddly shaped object in the robot's head, "but whoever created these things installed a neural inhibitor that keeps the robot smart enough to follow orders, but dumb enough to keep them from asking questions."

"Whatever that means," Jack replied before walking away still picking at her bandages.

Gabi finished the work of connecting the final lead then picked up her tablet and sent the power up order to the machine that was thoroughly tied down. As an added precaution, all of its ammo had been removed from its weapons and she was also actively draining the hydraulic fluids out of their tubes. Her tablet's screen opened a second page and a large amount of data started scrolling across the field as the robot's eye came to life and took in the ceiling above it.

Behind it, Gabi pressed a few buttons on her tablet and tried to make sense of the data she was seeing, but nothing was working. The code was too alien for her to make sense of it. Activating her radio, Gabi called the Bridge. "Major Marks, I've got a request for the Colonials I'd like you to push through."

"What's up?" Marks asked in an upbeat tone. The recent victory against impossible odds had been a real morality booster.

"See if they have anyone over there that's good with Cylon codes. Go ahead and tell them we've captured one of their soldiers alive and that I can't figure out how it works on my own," Gabi replied.

"Let me patch you through to Doctor Jackson, he's already gone over with the negotiators. Weren't you supposed to go with them?" Marks asked.

"Colonel Davidson vetoed that when we captured the tin man. Got the channel yet?" Gabi replied.

"Patching you through," Marks informed her.

That crackling of the channel being encrypted was finally broken by the near panicked voice of Daniel Jackson. "Shut it off!" Daniel nearly shouted.

"Why?" Gabi asked, but only after she had hit the kill switch.

"That's not a Cylon soldier, it's a Cylon," Daniel replied before a gruff voice took over.

"The Cylons are the race of robotic automatons that the Colonial Armed Forces created to do war with the other colonies back before the Unification. They became smart enough to question why they were taking orders from Humans then rebelled against the Colonial forces. The war lasted for twenty years and the Cylons had a knack for hacking our networks and using our ships to tear each other apart. They used the same tactic to take out three-fourths of our fleet and all twelve of our worlds before we even had a chance to fight back. Don't let them into your networks or they'll use the Odyssey to destroy the entire fleet," Commander Adama explained in a series of growls and snarls.

Gabi had to resist the urge to laugh at the mere notion that a Cylon could hack their computers, but she wasn't about to disrespect the man. "I assure you, Commander, that won't be a problem. The Odyssey's systems are encoded with Asgard firewalls and those things were designed to fight off the Replicators' viral attacks. Not only is it a far superior code to anything that the Cylons could've developed, it's also an entirely different language. If I can't make heads or tails of their code, then they don't have a chance in hell at cracking ours. If anything, this is your chance to study up-to-date Cylon coding. Just send me one of your experts and we'll get started."

"I'll send Doctor Gaius Baltar. He had a hand in studying what we know of the Cylons. Just do us all a favor and don't network any of the computers you use to study the damned thing," Adama replied.

"I'll do that, Commander," Gabi replied as she disconnected her tablet from the ship-wide network and wiped the hard drive of any information that could be used to harm Earth. "When can I expect your man?"

"I'll send him over as soon as I can find him," Adama replied gruffly.

The line went dead and Gabi left the prone form of the Cylon, which was apparently a real Cylon, and walked over to the pulsating orb lying on the desk. Playing back the recording of the interrogation of the Lucian Alliance researcher, helpfully recorded and made available to her through the separate network that the members of Oliver's team used, she noted how they interfaced the orb to their computers then made a quick trip back to her room to grab a few supplies. She returned a few minutes later chewing on the last piece of her sandwich and carefully set her bag on the table next to the orb then removed a small box and four clear crystals.

The box was just that, a box. She spent a minute emptying it out and cutting five holes into it, then pulled out her grinder and started reducing the flat tips of the four cylindrical crystals into sharp points. Another few minutes were spent positioning the crystals in the box so that, when she placed the orb in the center, they all touched the surface and suspended it between the four points. Wires were connected to the crystals then those wires were connected to the computer.

With a few commands entered into the consul, the four clear crystals began to hum, a soft melody filling the air as their molecular composition began to change. What started out as four clear crystals ended up becoming an eclectic blue crystal, two orange crystals, and a jet black crystal. Gabi looked at the crystals, removed the sphere from the center, and then ran a diagnostic on all of them. According to their new structure, the blue one was a transmitter, the two orange ones were receivers, and the black one transferred power to the orb.

With that in mind, Gabi hooked the black one up to a power supply then adjusted the connectors on the blue and orange crystals so that the data would flow properly. After that, she placed the orb back into the cradle and started shifting through the data stored within. It only took three seconds of looking at the information on her display to know that something was horribly wrong with this picture. She had seen this code before, but it shouldn't be out here.

Activating her radio again, she called Engineering. "Hey, Sam, you're going to want to see this."

"On my way," Sam replied. She arrived moments later, took one look at the screen from her place still in the doorframe, and her jaw set into a grim line. "Where did you get this?" she asked as she walked over and pulled a chair up to sit beside her former pupil.

"Lucian Alliance lab world a few star clusters over from where you found that bunker of yours. The researcher we questioned said that they found the satellite drifting in the void between systems between the planet we assaulted and a farm world called Samsara. He said the satellite itself was the size of the largest building on Samsara and that they spent months taking it apart only to gain nothing because the tech was too far above their level to even study it properly. Is this what I think it is?" Gabi asked.

"I think so," Sam replied as she shifted through the data. "In fact, I'm going to say that it is," she amended when their access to the data was restricted without warning. "This orb and the satellite it came from were made by the same people who built the bunker," Sam said as she pulled the orb from its cradle, "and that bunker had an AI in it."

"I disconnected this entire lab from the Odyssey's networks at the behest of Commander Adama who insisted that the Cylons would be able to hack our computers if we didn't."

"And?"

"There's a neural inhibitor built into its brain. That Cylon is about as smart as a Replicator Spider-Droid without the benefit of knowing the Asgard language inside and out. It poses no real threat to the ship."

"This is beyond coincidence," Sam said as she looked at the orb in her hands. "The bunker, the satellite, the orb, the Cylons, the Colonials… all of this is coming together in a way that I don't like."

"Stop being paranoid, Sam," Gabi said as she took the orb from Sam and placed it on the table. "The satellite was found a few dozen light years from the bunker. It was probably created by the same race to be a sort of defense mechanism. The Lanteans did it too, so it's not that much of a stretch. The Lucian Alliance found it by luck, or an accident. Whichever you want to call it. They dropped out of hyperspace to conduct repairs and there it was. As for the Cylons and the Colonials? Of course they're connected, one created the other. When's the last time you slept?"

Sam let out a deep yawn and laid her head on the table. "It's been awhile," Sam admitted in a voice that said it all, "but there's more work to do."

"The communications system isn't going to be fixed overnight, Sam, and the inertial dampeners aren't going to be fixed at all until we get back to Earth. Take a break, get some rest, clear your head, and then look at the problem with a fresh mind. We need you at your best, not dog-ass tired. You're more likely to make mistakes working like this. Get some rest, I'll cover for you."

"Thanks," Sam said with a genuine smile as she got up. She made it about half way across the room before coming back and grabbing the orb before walking off. As she went, she said, "Something similar to this learned my every move while I was trying to hack it. Sorry, Gabi, but I'm not leaving this hooked up to anything. Do what you want with the Cylon."

Gabi shook her head a few times then placed her jury-rigged interface on top of the computer consul before going back to her work with the Cylon. She'd have to wait for Galactica's expert to arrive to get anything meaningful done, but she wanted to study the hardware while she waited so she set out to find a welding unit that wasn't being used in the repair effort.

*Battlestar Galactica (Combat Information Center)*

Commander Adama had been leading Daniel through the halls of his ship explaining the Colonial race's fight against the Cylons, and it was neither a short story nor a short walk. They arrived at the CIC just in time for a clock to tick down to two minutes.

"Anything yet?" Commander Adama asked.

"Nothing on DRADIS," Lieutenant Gaeta replied.

"The Odyssey saw them coming long before we did last time. I say we ask them if they're picking anything up," Saul suggested.

"Doctor Jackson, can you ask your people if there are any Baseships in the area?" Adama asked.

"Major Marks," Daniel said into his radio.

"Doctor Jackson, how are things going over there?" Colonel Davidson replied.

"I'm getting a history on the Cylons," Daniel answered. "Commander Adama was wondering if we're picking anything up on the long ranged sensors."

"We're still tracking the damaged Baseship from the last engagement and the rest of the fleet escorting the unknown ship. As far as we can tell, they're just following us. They could be waiting for reinforcements or preparing for an assault, but, at this point, they lack the firepower they need to destroy Galactica, let along the Odyssey, and they know it," Major Marks informed them.

"You can track them from that far away?" Commander Adama asked.

"Our sensors were designed by a very advanced team of experts," Daniel replied, purposefully leaving out the part where that 'team of experts' was composed entirely of aliens. Something told him that the Colonials just weren't ready to hear about that.

"And you'll keep an eye on them?" Saul asked.

"They pose as much of a threat to us as they do to you. If they really do hate Humanity, then we're in the same boat here… literally. The Odyssey is damaged and incapable of long range FTL jumps, our weapons are running on low, our communications are shot, and our hull is damaged. We're better off than you are, but only because we can outmaneuver most of what the Cylons are throwing at us. We'll keep them under constant surveillance, don't worry."

*USS Odyssey (Auxiliary Lab) [ten minutes later]*

Gabi finished cutting through the metal shell that covered the Cylon's chest then nodded to Jack. Her body pulsed and gravity above the Cylon began to misbehave. The metal plate drifted up towards the roof and listed slightly as it went. Jack reached up and pulled the plate to the side before letting gravity return to normal and the chunk of metal dropped to the floor with a loud clang.

"Thanks," Gabi said as she looked into the robot's chest.

"Sweet," Jack said as she took in all the computer chips, hydraulic tubes, and motors. "What's that?" she asked while pointing at a large block.

"The power core," Gabi replied as she took photos and started scanning the inside.

"You really did capture one intact, didn't you?" a man asked from the doorway.

"No, this is just dream," Jack replied in a dead serious tone while letting her body glow faintly.

"Ignore her," Gabi said as she looked up at the man. "You must be Doctor Baltar. I'm Gabriella Naco."

"A pleasure," the man said as he walked closer. "Is it…" he asked as he pointed at the Cylon.

"No," Gabi replied as she picked up and waved the tablet that was still connected to its brain by a cluster of wires. She set the tablet down again and pulled out her knife before setting to work. She severed the hydraulic tubes that allowed the thing to move and cut a few wires connected to the servomotors to be sure it was immobile. Only then did she pick up the tablet again and power up the machine.

"What are you doing!?" the Colonial scientist exclaimed as he ran to hide behind a computer consul.

"It has no ammo and I just broke everything that makes it move," Gabi replied in an annoyed tone. "Now get over here and tell me what this means."

Very slowly the man poked his head out then proceeded to walk over and join the two women. "Well," Gaius said as he looked at the computer in her hands, "that's a very small computer."

"It's a tablet," Gabi said as she flicked through the various screens she had pulled up.

"And it's operated by touch?"

"You've never seen a touch screen?" Jack asked. "Come on, even I've seen one before!"

"Most Goa'uld tech uses holograms," Gabi pointed out.

"Touché," Jack countered before making her way to the door. "Have fun on your date!" she called over her shoulder as she left.

"What's 'Goauld' tech?" Baltar practically stuttered.

"A very, very long story that has nothing to do with why you're here," Gabi replied. "How do I decipher Cylon binary?"

'Why does she want to know?' the very attractive blond female that lived in his head asked Baltar. 'What does she stand to gain by doing this?'

"That's a good question," Gaius said.

"You don't know?" Gabi asked in disbelief. "Then why did you come?"

"Not that," the man replied hastily. "I was asking myself… it's nothing."

"You're going crazy, aren't you?"

"That is a frighteningly real possibility."

"That's understandable," the short woman replied earnestly. "I would be too if my race was on the verge of extinction."

"I suppose I'm not the only one either," Gaius said.

"No, I would imagine you're not," the woman agreed, "but you are the only one who can help me figure this out."

"Why do you want to know?" Gaius asked.

"These things boarded my ship, killed two of my people, are threatening the last of your people, and we have the opportunity to study one. Why would I not want to know?"

'She thinks she can create a virus to shut them down. She's very mistaken.'

"You can't create a virus to shut them down, if that's what you're thinking. The Cylons are hive-minded. If one of them is infected with a virus, the others will either destroy it or repair it."

"A simultaneous infection then."

"We've tried that before. It never works."

"Why not?"

"Communications technology can only travel so far so fast."

"If our communications systems still worked, we'd be able to phone home despite being very, very, very far away. Hell, it only takes a relay at the edge of the galaxy and a ship in the void to reach Atlantis in an emergency. You'd be surprised at what we're capable of."

"Right…" Baltar said skeptically. "But what about the Cylons? You can't infect them all unless you upload it into all of them at once. You can't use this one to broadcast that virus if it doesn't have your communications equipment."

"Then we upgrade it."

"That's… a risky move, and not one I can advise."

"And that's why you're here to teach, not advise," the woman said sternly as she handed him the 'tablet.' "So start teaching."

*Battlestar Galactica (Commander's Office)*

"I knew it was bad, but how bad was it?" Doctor Jackson asked as he followed the Commander into his office.

"We lost five of our pilots, more than twenty birds are damaged, three of which are beyond our ability to repair, the Expedient took a missile to her habitation ring, we lost the Olympic Carrier with all hands, Galactica took three more nukes to the hull, our armor is barely holding, and more than half of my crew is hyped up on stimulants to keep them going because they can't be dismissed from duty without jeopardizing the safety of the fleet," the Commander replied as he sat down in his chair and tossed the file onto his desk.

There was a knock on the door and the Commander stood to his feet to welcome the President as she walked in. She looked at Daniel then gave the Commander a sad smile. "It's bad, isn't it?" she asked solemnly.

"We make mistakes, people die. There aren't many of us left," Commander Adama replied in kind.